Display

The ZTE Axon 7 is flaunting a 5.5" AMOLED panel with a QHD resolution (1440 x 2560 pixels). With a pixel density of 538ppi and a 2.5D glass that very subtly goes to the edges of the phone, it's a gorgeous display to look at.

We measured the brightness of the display and it peaks at 352 nits, which isn't bright by today's standards. There are competitors out there which max out at 500 nits and beyond in bright conditions. Minimum brightness is 4.4 nits so it should go easy on the eyes when you use the phone in a dark place.

As for color reproduction accuracy, there are various screen modes to choose from, and the "colorful" one, surprisingly, has the smallest deviation of average DeltaE of 8. That's better than average but not among the best. The screen effects don't improve the color accuracy much, and neither do cool/warm modes.

Display test

100% brightness

Black, cd/m2

White, cd/m2

Contrast ratio

ZTE Axon 7

0.00

352

∞

OnePlus 3

0.00

433

∞

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

0.00

392

∞

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge max auto

0.00

610

∞

Xiaomi Redmi Pro

0.00

408

∞

LG V20

0.43

475

1097

LG V20 Max auto

0.59

628

1064

Huawei Mate S

0.00

372

∞

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)

0.00

425

∞

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) max auto

0.00

536

∞

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4

0.38

439

1158

Alcatel Idol 4S

0.00

373

∞

Alcatel Idol 4S (Max auto)

0:00

684

∞

You'll have absolutely no problems using the Axon 7 outside, even in bright sunlight. The phone's sunlight contrast ratio is among the best around, in spite of the relatively low maximum brightness.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+4.615

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge4.439

OnePlus 34.424

Samsung Galaxy S74.376

HTC One A94.274

Samsung Galaxy Note74.247

Samsung Galaxy A34.241

ZTE Axon 74.154

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge4.124

Samsung Galaxy Note54.09

Huawei Nexus 6P4.019

OnePlus X3.983

Vivo Xplay5 Elite3.983

Oppo R7s3.964

Apple iPhone 73.964

Huawei P9 Plus3.956

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)3.918

Samsung Galaxy C53.911

Samsung Galaxy C73.896

Samsung Galaxy A53.895

Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor3.879

Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor3.873

Samsung Galaxy A83.859

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)3.817

Motorola Moto X (2014)3.816

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode3.802

LG V20 Max auto3.798

Xiaomi Redmi Pro3.798

Sony Xperia XZ3.795

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)3.789

Apple iPhone 6s3.783

Meizu Pro 53.781

Microsoft Lumia 6503.772

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)3.756

Oppo F1 Plus3.709

Vivo X5Pro3.706

Sony Xperia X Compact3.694

Apple iPhone SE3.681

Samsung Galaxy A73.679

Meizu PRO 63.659

BlackBerry Priv3.645

Apple iPhone 7 Plus3.588

Apple iPhone 6s Plus3.53

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode3.523

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)3.523

Acer Jade Primo3.521

Microsoft Lumia 9503.512

Oppo R7 Plus3.499

nubia Z113.466

Samsung Galaxy J73.422

Meizu MX53.416

LG V203.402

Oppo R73.32

Samsung Galaxy J23.235

Sony Xperia X Performance3.234

Motorola Moto X Play3.222

Huawei P93.195

Lenovo Vibe Shot3.113

Motorola Moto X Force3.105

LG Nexus 5X3.092

Huawei Mate S3.073

Microsoft Lumia 640 XL3.065

Apple iPhone 6 Plus3.023

Sony Xperia X2.989

Samsung Galaxy Note2.97

Huawei Mate 82.949

Xiaomi Redmi 3S2.913

Sony Xperia XA Ultra2.906

LG G52.905

HTC One S2.901

Sony Xperia Z52.876

Microsoft Lumia 5502.851

Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro2.803

Sony Xperia Z5 compact2.784

LG V102.744

Xiaomi Redmi 32.735

Sony Xperia M52.69

Huawei P9 Lite2.679

Vivo V3Max2.659

Xiaomi Mi 4i2.641

Sony Xperia XA2.609

Xiaomi Mi 4c2.574

LeEco Le Max 22.567

Microsoft Lumia 6402.563

Lenovo Moto G42.544

Oppo F12.528

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium2.525

Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c2.506

Sony Xperia M4 Aqua2.503

Oppo F1s2.481

Motorola Moto G2.477

Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus2.473

Huawei G82.471

Huawei nova2.467

Sony Xperia Z2.462

Lenovo Vibe K52.459

Huawei Honor 72.406

Sony Xperia E52.386

ZUK Z1 by Lenovo2.382

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)2.378

HTC 102.378

Huawei nova plus2.329

HTC One E9+2.305

Alcatel One Touch Hero2.272

Apple iPhone 4S2.269

Lenovo Vibe K4 Note2.254

Sony Xperia C5 Ultra2.253

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)2.249

Sony Xperia C4 Dual2.235

Xiaomi Mi Note2.234

Motorola Moto G (2014)2.233

LG Nexus 52.228

Huawei P82.196

Huawei Honor 62.169

Xiaomi Redmi Note 22.166

OnePlus Two2.165

HTC One X2.158

Xiaomi Redmi Note 42.145

LG Aka2.145

Archos 50 Diamond2.134

Xiaomi Redmi Note2.119

Acer Liquid X22.084

Huawei P8lite2.078

Moto G 3rd gen max manual2.026

Xiaomi Mi Max1.996

Sony Xperia E4g1.972

OnePlus One1.961

Meizu m3 note1.923

Meizu m2 note1.892

BlackBerry Leap1.892

HTC Butterfly1.873

ZTE Nubia Z9 mini1.759

Sony Xperia U1.758

Asus Zenfone Selfie1.68

Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)1.675

ZTE Nubia Z91.659

Jolla Jolla1.605

Motorola Moto E1.545

Sony Xperia M1.473

HTC Desire C1.3

Sony Xperia C1.283

Meizu MX1.221

Sony Xperia E1.215

Battery life

The ZTE Axon 7 features a 3250mAh Li-Po battery, which is a bit larger than the one found in the OnePlus 3 (3000mAh). Axon 7's battery features Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 tech, which allows you to fill the battery up to 50% in 30 minutes.

Naturally, we put Axon 7's battery through its paces in our Endurance rating and the result is a rating of 70 hours (66 hours with the two SIM card slots filled in). That's slightly better than the OnePlus 3's result of 66 hours with a single SIM.

ZTE boasts the phone to last 16 hours of talk time and our test confirms this. And to take the comparison with the OnePlus 3 a step further, the Axon 7 manages to beat it in the web browsing test by a comfortable margin of 3 hours. In video playback, however, the Axon 7 lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes less.

ZTE has equipped the Axon 7 with a plethora of battery saving features. For starters, you have the "Smart power-save" option, which adjusts the CPU frequency according to usage scenarios. When the juice goes below 15%, the "ultra power saving mode" kick is. It makes the screen go black and white and disables Mobile data, Bluetooth and GPS, reduces brightness and enables faster sleep mode.

Elaborate Power Usage app

The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

Connectivity

The Axon 7 is properly equipped in terms of connectivity. The radio support includes up to four 2G bands, five 3G bands, and a slew of 4G bands. The LTE connectivity is Cat.7 which means up to 300Mbps downlink and up to 150Mbps uplink.

It comes with a hybrid nano-SIM/microSD slot. The secondary card can only hook to 2G networks while the primary one gets the full set of cellular connectivity.

There's a full set of a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi standards on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot and DLNA media sharing on supported TVs and PCs.

The GPS support includes A-GPS and GLONASS. Sadly, there isn't an FM radio present.

A 3.5mm jack provides the standard audio connectivity option. There is the new USB Type-C connector for charging and data connections. Mind you, it defaults to charge-only every single time you connect it to a PC, and you have to manually switch the mode from the notification area if you want to do something else.